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VeraCoin™
Think
Globally, but Act Locally-Globally
The time is ripe for a Global Virtual Complementary Currency;
this proposal for such a currency called VeraCoin™.
VeraCoin™ will be a proprietary exchange currency created by contract
through an association of Vera City members as “citizens” of
Vera City. VeraCoin™
will have the potential to provide Vera City members the
liquidity and the capital needed to carry on commerce even if
the national currency tanks.
VeraCoin™ will be a fully funded private currency
initially backed by the U.S. dollar, but in the future it is
expected to be backed by a commodity such as energy.
VeraCoin backed by the dollar will have a universal global value,
as the U.S dollar is a de facto world currency.
As a proprietary monetary system owned by the community members
of Vera City, VeraCoin™ will assist communities to act
locally-globally. Although
the “Vera” will have a global value, it can only be spent
with local businesses that are owned by Vera City members on
Main Streets around the world.
VeraCoin™ is designed to serve primarily as unit of
accounting and a medium of exchange; it’s only marginally a
store of value. To
discourage hoarding of the currency and to encourage spending,
demurrage (a discounting mechanism) will be utilized, a common
practice with complementary currencies. To
this end, VeraCoin™ will be discounted by fifteen percent upon
conversion from dollars.
So what happens to the fifteen percent discounted in the
conversion to VeraCoin™? This
is where VeraCoin™ takes a turn from most other existing
complementary currencies and as such it is a hybrid currency.
When a participating member converts dollars to VeraCoin™
the
fifteen cent discount will applied towards the issuance
of VeraShares as part of a renewable energy investment strategy.
The funds raised by this share component will supply a pool of
risk capital for investing in energy conservation and renewable
energy advances, thus affording a countervailing force to the
economic power of the oil industry to control the energy market,
while at the same time creating new jobs in a shared energy
future.
Another
value of VeraCoin™ will be the pool of funds amassed from excess
reserves collected for backing the VeraCoin™, which can be made
available to Vera City members at a low cost for local
business expansion, similar to the Gameen Bank in rural India.
Participating merchant members are free
to exchange the Vera for U.S. dollars at the discounted rate of
85 cents. The
fifteen percent discount applied to VeraCoin™ essentially acts
like a coupon to the merchant accepting it.
This discount is in line with the discount on many
coupons in circulation in the economy, so it will be relatively
easy for businesses to adopt it in lieu of or as a compliment to
the coupon methods they already employ.
Permitting VeraCoin™ to be redeemed upon demand gives
those merchants who wish to, or need to, the flexibility to
convert to dollars. This conversion opportunity will also
act as a mechanism to keep the currency from inflating.
It is expected that with expanded
opportunities presented by new merchant members adding goods and
services, enlisting the
need to convert to dollars will be diminished over time.
If you think about it, VeraCoin™
is not much different
from PayPal as a global
virtual
digital currency.
Though not advertised as such PayPal is essentially a
digital currency backed by national currencies.
Many of its users spend their PayPal funds as currency
without first converting them to national currencies.
Unlike PayPal, the Vera will be generated by people
turning in their dollars to buy VeraCoins
and VeraShares.
Vera City members will use the digital currency to make
purchases of goods and services in their local communities,
spending it with the same value as a national currency.
Due to the demurrage associated with exchange of dollars
for VeraCoin™
and VeraShares, users are encouraged to keep their
funds in VeraCoin™
and spending them first, instead of converting them
back into dollars. VeraCoin™
is meant to be an instrument of exchange and not a store of
value.
One of the goals of VeraCoin™
accounting system is to create a
value exchange function that supports complementary currencies
from all sources. Currency
is a reflection of implied value, it is important to recognize a
diversity of value artifacts, from frequent flyer miles, to
reward points, as well as Ithaca Hours, along with other time
accounting arrangements.
Therefore, Vera City will include a currency exchange for
currencies, traditional and non-traditional.
Vera
City
is a network
of members conducting internal trade with VeraCoin™, a proprietary currency
Within
the Vera
City
community members conduct commerce with VeraCoin™ in amounts
agreed upon by each participant
Members
will receive Vera by converting dollars to Vera and receiving a
share credit, or by simply accepting the Vera from other members
in exchange for goods and service.
Members
can convert their VeraCoin™ to dollars when they have the need to pay in dollars, at a
fifteen percent discount; business members will feel free to
accept VeraCoin™
as a coupon substitute.
Accrued
dollars represent a pool of lendable assets, after a accounting
for a reserve requirement to cover VeraCoin™
to dollar conversion.
When
converting dollars to VeraCoin™,
members accumulate VeraShares through currency demurrage to
accumulate funds toward investment in renewable energy.
The
Vera is portable; it can be used in local businesses throughout
the global network.
It
is community focused: it flows within a local sphere of member
businesses globally, providing a multiplier effect as it
circulates though the communities.
It
is transferable within the burgeoning emerging mediums of
exchange;
Vera
City
will act as a currency exchange that will recognize
“competing” complementary currencies, as well as the points
and rewards associated with loyalty programs such as frequent
flyer miles and eRewards.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
AN
INITIATIVE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
VERACOIN™ – A Global Complementary Digital Currency
BENEFITS OF VERA-CITY, VERACOIN™
&
VERASHARES
REVENUE
STREAMS - VERA-CITY, VERACOIN™
&
VERA SHARES
TOWARDS
A PURE CREDIT ECONOMY
A
COMPLEMENTARY CURRENCY PRIMER
OPEN
ENTERPRISE MODEL - A SELF REPLICATING SYSTEM
AN
OPEN LETTER TO OCCUPY WALL STREET
THE 1%
- A HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE
IN
CONCLUSION
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